Friday, May 8, 2015

Kung Fu Killer (2015)

The career of Donnie Yen is something to admire, whether or
not one agrees with the quality of his most recent output of films. In an era
where there were few new action stars coming out of Hong Kong, he came out
fists first and some decent acting chops second, taking the Chinese market by
storm and earning quite the impressive world wide following. For his latest martial
arts flick, Kung Fu Killer (aka Kung Fu Jungle), Yen and company
homage the classic era of martial arts while taking an obvious modern spin to
it. While it wasn’t perhaps the straight up throwback film it could have been, Kung
Fu Killer is massively entertaining.

Hahou Mo (Donnie Yen) is a well-respected martial artist who
simply went too far in a match and landed himself a five-year prison sentence.
When a serial killer (Wang Baoqiang) starts picking off his old opponents and
masters of certain aspects of martial arts, he gets a brief release to help out
a determined police officer (Charlie Young.) Will they stop the killer in time
or will Hahou Mo have to take to fighting one more time?

"Give me my phone call!"

Kung Fu Killer has one thing that is certain to
please both old school martial arts fans and new ones: heart. Director Teddy
Chan has showcased himself as a director with both style and substance already
and while his execution of the film here is a bit hit or miss, this is one
thing he gets right. The plot itself could have easily cascaded into being a
horror-angled film and the atmospheric horror moments that do pop up here and
there – including the opening credits sequence, but Kung Fu Killer tends
to play it more as a gimmick to its basic martial arts core though. It works.
The film highlights the talents of both Donnie Yen as an empathetic hero and
Wang Baoqiang as a bat shit crazy villain, whose viewpoints on martial arts
conflict with one another. The latter steals most of the movie, both with more
fight sequences and with a more intense character arc, but both actors carry
such a screen presence that it’s hard to deny their inevitable collision
course.

The film also features the impressive action direction of
Donnie Yen. Even when a film doesn’t live up to its potential (see the action
thriller Special ID), his fight direction is always top notch and
becomes a reason to see a film alone. Kung Fu Killer resides at this
junction. While Wang Baoqiang gets most of the fight sequences as he faces off
against various ‘masters’ and defeats them using their own tactics, it’s the
finale where hero meets villain that earns the praise. Sure the chase sequence
at on the river has plenty of awesome action and the opening prison fight
showcases Yen’s blend of humor injected brutality, the final street fight is
down right impressive. The price of the movie is worth it for this final
throwdown just in itself.

Sticks and stones will most certainly break your bones...

While the old school heart and strong fight work make for a
film that is undeniably entertaining in the end, Kung Fu Killer does
struggle a bit in trying to make the film more than just an old school kung fu
homage. Teddy Chan opts for a film that leap frogs a bit in time and relies on
a lot of flashbacks to recall events and details that the audience was not
privy to before. The attempts at a somewhat non-linear narrative fall utterly
flat though and half of the time the flashbacks are unneeded. Yes, we remember
the reason our hero wears the bracelet and we don’t need a voiceover flashback.
Thanks. The film also tends to rely a bit too much on CGI. In particular, there
is a boat wreck that is almost laughably awkward and some of the sword work in
one of the more intense fight sequences (with the ever awesome Louis Fan)
doesn’t come off right. If anything, it’s these little things that undermine
the entire “throwback” feel of the film and sacrifice it for a more modern
spin.

Epic crotch kick.

Kung Fu Killer remains a mixed bag of sorts thanks to
a modern spin that doesn’t necessarily work with the film’s better elements,
but it is still some fun entertainment for action fans. Both Donnie Yen and
Wang Baoqiang are phenomenal in the film (as are many of the secondary roles)
and the fight sequences are expertly choreographed and shot – blending some of
the modern stuff with classic complexity. It’s not quite the instant kung fu
klassic I was hoping for in the end, but it still is going to remain a favorite
of mine even with its flaws.

BONUS PRAISE: I love all of the little cameos by Hong Kong
legends in the film and all of the bits and pieces of martial arts history. Lau
Kar Leung and Jackie Chan show up on movie screens with some of their iconic
roles and there is even a tattoo parlor littered with classic martial arts
posters. It’s the little details that certainly make me want to watch the film
again.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Find a Review

Welcome To Blood Brothers!

Here at Blood Brothers we, cult fan brothers Eric and Matt, are dedicated to bringing reviews to some of the worlds best (and worst, depending on your taste) cult like films from around this large globe. Whether it be Horror, Science Fiction, Kung Fu, or any other cult like genre - we are your first and last stop for all your review needs. Unapologetically kvlt.

Feel free to comment on our reviews, we love to hear your thoughts on movies or the reviews as long as its meaningful and thought out. Any slanderous comments (for the sake of it) will be erased though, so be thoughtful with what you say.

All movie ratings out of are out of 5 BLOOD DROPS. Our blood drop rating is located at the end of our reviews.

Note: A very special thanks goes out to our friend Bill, who with his connections, technical support, and wizardry with photoshop has kept this website going. Many of the films reviewed here would never have been reviewed if it weren't for his abilities. THANKS BILL! We can never thank you enough!